Safaricom Officially Contracted By Government To Roll Out Surveillance System In Kenya

Mobile carrier Safaricom on Tuesday signed a contract with the Kenyan government that will see the telco provide infrastructure for national surveillance, communication and control system. This means that Safaricom will be working with the Kenya Police and Intelligence where they will be providing infrastructure in the form of surveillance cameras, communication equipment and the control system that will assist the Kenya Intelligence collect in real-time, security data in Kenya.

The infrastructure which was approved by the Kenya National Assembly Administration and National Security Committee in July this year will roll out utilizing 4G technology will be rolled out in Mombasa and Nairobi as the first two cities. This means that Safaricom will embark on building the intelligence system that will be ready in the next 18 months after which operations will be handed over to Kenya Police Service.

“Over the next 18 months, Safaricom will build an intelligent solution that harnesses the power of technology to enable law enforcement officers effectively coordinate and deploy their resources in response to threats to national security and, indeed, emergency situations requiring the interplay of competencies from the National Police Service and various disaster response teams,” Said Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore.

The project is worth Kshs 14.9 Billion and entails setting up and maintaining of the systems. The Kenya government will use the service for the first year free and commence the installments payments from year 2016. With all the approvals done, Safaricom is ready to roll out the service that is expected to boost the intelligence of Kenya police in tackling crime among other violations.